Guest Profile: Dr. Roberta Lee

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Roberta Lee, M.D. is vice chair of the Department of Integrative Medicine and co-director of the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel’s Continuum Center for Health and Healing in New York City. About a decade ago, she recognized that a significant number of her patients exhibited a variety of physical symptoms she suspected were stress-related, even though they weren’t aware of experiencing more than the usual amount of stress in their lives. Then it hit her: They’d lived with extreme stress for so long that it had become part of the fabric of their lives—and they didn’t even realize they were stressed at all.

Dr. Lee has identified this new kind of stress and given it a new name: SuperStress. According to Dr. Lee, it is a unique 21st century disorder, a widespread condition that has evolved from the frenetic pace of modern life. People think they are coping well with the little stresses in their life, but their body isn’t getting the message: It’s trying to handle the continual release of stress hormones that accompany each and every “hit,” from minor daily aggravations to the most dramatic life changes.